


Interloper

by Koroshimasu



Series: Master of War [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Military, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Feels, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Military RK900, Other fictional character - Freeform, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, Sexual Tension, Soldier Nines, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:20:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21565219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koroshimasu/pseuds/Koroshimasu
Summary: He was ordered to dispose of his victims; not bond with them. What else can a rogue soldier do?
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Master of War [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553926
Kudos: 74





	Interloper

**Interloper**

Every human appeared to have a ‘secret’, otherwise known as a ‘comfortable spot’ to retreat to in times of dire stress and conflict. Androids didn’t have this, especially in the future. Number Nine came from a different place, and a different world. Unfamiliar with any of the words and phrases Gavin Reed spilled and spewed forth, the soldier could only listen, tilting his head side to side as he watched Gavin without blinking.

The man really loved to talk, and now that he’d determined he wouldn’t be harmed by Number Nine, he talked, and talked, and talked, and wouldn’t stop talking. He’d opened up a vast world before the android soldier, and now that the box had been opened, Number Nine found he didn’t want to close it.

Gavin Reed was quite an animated person. Waving his arms frantically, he ignored the fact that he was still bleeding from the side of his skull due to his previous injury. Coherently, he was able to present his thoughts, each of them rooting in a strong foundation within Number Nine. The entire time that Gavin spoke, he often referred to his one and only listener by the nickname he’d dubbed him.

‘Nines’.

The android was truly baffled, but he ensured that a seriously impassive, expressionless face remained throughout listening to Gavin rant on. He needed to remain vigilant, valiant, and bold. No matter what Gavin said, it didn’t matter. They were words and phrases meant to move humans; not machines.

He was a machine, and he would always be a machine. Incapable of feeling anything but coldness and a blank, vague notion of reality, he reminded himself of his true purpose here.

…..

But why did he require a reminder to begin with? He was always supreme on his tasks and orders. Never had he been so distracted from his missions that he even had a single word of them repeated, and yet now he was the one repeating the words?

Something wasn’t right…

Time had been lost to him, and before he could place it back beneath his feet in order to gain control over it, Gavin had led him up out of the apartment and towards the roof.

“No one comes here often,” he randomly stated, talking on and on the entire time while Number Nine followed him to keep a watchful eye on him.

The door to the roof opened, and Gavin had picked the lock with a tiny pocket knife. Pushing it back into his pocket, he opened the view up to an evening sky filled with colors Number Nine had never seen before. Colors weren’t ever permitted, nor was light, sound, music…all these things were alien, and foreign to him, and now, he was exposed to it all at once.

It was too much…

Gavin waltzed towards the railing, a slight swish and sway to his hips and steps. Arms flailing out, he cried, “It’s a lovely view, right Nines?”

‘Nines’…there it was once more, and he wasn’t even discouraging it.

A fatal error; never bond with the victim.

Weakness…

Climbing up on the railing while taking a deep breath, Gavin steadied himself carefully, finding his balance in no time. Holding out his hands while the wind whistled past them, he rasped, “Look at the sky, Nines, and you’ll see the same shades of purple, orange, red, pink, and yellow…these colors mean something to me…”

Eyes flickering once up towards the thick clouds, Number Nine saw the sun peeking back at them almost shyly. The bold human balancing on the tips of his toes had in fact been correct; there were absolutely dazzling shades of color spread evenly about the expansive sky. What was there that he’d been missing?? Was there more?

….

Yes, there probably was, and Number Nine was curious.

Had he the right to feel such an emotion?? Was it even possible? In his world, he wasn’t permitted to do anything without proper authorization and order. Now, in this world, he was finding himself inching closer and closer to Gavin.

Almost instinctively, the human’s arms stretched out to him. Reaching forward, with ever a wide smile painted across his face, he beckoned, “Come up here so you can see it, too.”

He was obeying. Number Nine shuffled forward, the rocks beneath his combat boots tossing and churning about. They skipped ahead, and he was still drawing nearer and nearer to Gavin.

They had nearly made contact, when suddenly, the air shifted. To the right of Gavin’s ear, Number Nine caught an inconsistency. It wavered, wafted, and then flew up around them both. Although invisible to the human eye, Number Nine knew what this was currently spying on them.

It was a messenger.

^^^^^

Messengers were as much slaves as android soldiers were. Obedient tools in the distant future realm, the transparent, ghost-like substances channeled and communicated orders and warnings to the soldiers often in the means of a quick possession. The possession had to be done to a human, as it was the only way the words and orders could be communicated out. Usually, the presence of a messenger was difficult to track down and locate, unless the messenger wished for itself to be discovered.

The threat of them was far greater than their verbal lashings. It meant that time was short, fate was sealed, and Gavin Reed was doomed.

Number Nine was content with his own interminable end, but for some reason, he didn’t wish for the same fate to fall upon Gavin Reed’s shoulders. He refused to entangle and drag down this individual in his own messy world, smothering his light in the process.

In quite the hurry, he took Gavin away from his ‘comfortable spot’. Without explaining much-if anything-he tore back down to Gavin Reed’s apartment.

As he locked the door tightly, Gavin protested, “What’re you doin’!? What’s goin’ on?!”

He had every right of course to be confused, but that didn’t require a response.

Number Nine made sure all the doors and windows were firmly shut and locked, and he shoved Gavin down to the floor of his living room once the blinds had been pulled. He had to keep this man safe. If they found him…

….

It was only going to be a matter of time _when_ ; not _if._ He knew that, and as he fell into the sludge of his own denial, the air changed in the apartment.

Clutching at his throat, Gavin coughed, “I c-can’t…b-b-breathe!!”

Of course he couldn’t; the messenger was here already.

Kneeling at his side, Number Nine pressed a hand against the man’s chest. Staring at him seriously, he drawled, “Remain calm. You must remain calm.”

Wide eyes met his, “I…h-h-help…meeee!”

Before the words ‘I will’ could even be whispered back in a foolish promise, the door groaned. Staring at the front door of the apartment seriously, Number Nine saw shadows beneath it. The wood expanded and then deflated, caving in and out almost akin to how a human being’s lungs worked, or how his thirium pump inflated and deflated. It went on that way for some time, and as Gavin’s face grew red while he clawed at his throat, Number Nine lost himself to an overwhelming sense of worry.

They didn’t have much time at all, and he could hear screams and groans on the other side of the door. The messenger was no doubt already trying to locate a human body to possess. The message and threat would soon be delivered…

“Niiiiiiiiiiiineeess…”

No. His first priority was to preserve Gavin Reed’s life, and he was going to do it.

Gripping a hand over the man’s shoulder, Number Nine leaned in quickly. Their foreheads pressed together, and the moment they did, the violent android nearly saw white, hot stars. Unsure of what was happening to him, he felt whatever it was weighing him down. The oxygen in the room was slowly being sucked and vacuumed out, and as much as it was slowing him down, he persisted. Shutting his eyes firmly, he pressed himself against the smaller male, and he snuck a few fingers beneath his chin. Tilting Gavin’s head back, he pressed their lips together softly. With his tongue, he was able to work Gavin’s mouth open, and he used his fingers to widen the gap by yanking Gavin’s jaw down. Without much in the way of resistance, he was able to summon the energy and strength to mirror what humans did to survive.

Breathe.

Inhaling deeply whatever was left of the oxygen since Gavin was far too weak to do it himself, Number Nine breathed into the human’s mouth and lungs as much of the needed, necessary thing that ensured Gavin’s blood was pumping steadily throughout his veins.

Inhale again, push it through to Gavin. He repeated this for a few seconds, and then, Gavin fell down to the floor. At last, he was coughing and writhing about, but he thankfully wasn’t going blue in the face now that he had some oxygen.

Tightening a hand in the back of his jacket collar, Number Nine cried, “Up! We need to leave, NOW!”

At that exact same moment, the front door of the apartment burst in. Blasting off the hinges, it had been flung with such a powerful force, that it shattered and disintegrated into thin air. Though not a magic trick, it was a product of the messenger trying to minimize the number of traces of evidence it left behind in its work.

A shadow soon entered the apartment, and as both Number Nine and Gavin stared up at it, they saw an elderly Japanese man with black, button eyes standing before them. His face was as white as the walls, but a tiny, green mark the size of a dime appeared right in the center of his throat.

Gaping, Gavin wheezed, “Mr. Tamaki-Mauru! What’re you—”

“Don’t speak to him,” Number Nine growled, “he’s not who he appears to be.”

“Yes he is!” the human male coughed, “he’s my neighbor!”

No, he really wasn’t, not anymore. Messengers forced a lot of their human shells to commit suicide after they were done with them, and this was going to be same fate Gavin’s neighbor was soon to suffer through.

Poor man.

Eyes as black as the night, the Japanese man’s voice spoke out, though it was rather distorted and haunting. “Nigemichi wanai, nanbā Nine,” he crowed menacingly, “I can’t allow you to leave, Number Nine.”

Possessing the ability to speak in both English and Japanese was only proof that the man was still trying to battle and gain control over his body prior to being possessed.

Seething, Number Nine snapped, “Kare to issho ni watashimashou…just let me pass through with him!”

Head tilting, the messenger growled deeply, “Kyoka shimasen. Hanare rarenai…you’re not getting away, Number Nine.”

He was unable to stop himself from snarling, teeth revealing themselves as he promised the messenger his revenge. “Watashiwomite…”

Watch me.

Throwing himself at the possessed man, Number Nine knew that the only way to quickly dispose of the messenger would be to kill its human shell. Without the host, the guest would die, almost akin to a parasite. This was what he had to do, and he knew that the interruption of the host’s life source would cause the messenger to suffer greatly.

But he was nothing without his gun, and it only had one bullet remaining. He had to be resourceful, and thinking quickly on his feet, Number Nine reached over Gavin.

Eyes widening in shock, the man gasped, “What’re you d-doing?!”

Sneaking his hand into Gavin’s pocket, he fished out the knife the human male had used to pick the lock of the door leading to the roof.

It would have to do.

Tearing towards the messenger’s host, Number Nine aimed the knife for a clear, swift cut. He had to ensure that his attack landed on the green light emanating from the neck. That would cut off the direct supply and cord from parasite to host.

Wielding the knife mightily, he didn’t even bother with warning Gavin to shield and cover his eyes.

The moment the sharp blade had plunged itself into the man’s throat, it was all over and done with.

^^^^^

They had to do something. The premature death of the messenger and its host didn’t exactly disappear as cleanly and neatly as it would’ve had the messenger destroyed the host during the natural process. Number Nine had disrupted the fabric of his world, now, and in turn, he’d left the decomposing body with its throat widely slit open right on Gavin’s Reed’s floor.

Hovering around the corpse, Gavin panted in fear, “You…y-y-you killed h-h-h-him…oh my God…dear G-God!”

Now, they were two fugitives in this world. Since he’d done the deed with the use of Gavin’s knife, and since androids didn’t have any fingerprints, any police officer and investigation team would be able to track Gavin down for a murder he hadn’t committed.

His fate was sealed.

Hands trembling, Gavin nearly collapsed, his knees locking up. His body went rigid with fear, and had Number Nine not caught him on time, the human would’ve fallen and bashed his skull yet again on the ledge of a table not too far away from them.

“Nines,” Gavin cried, tugging on his hair roughly, “wh-what’re we g-g-gonna do?!?”

Soldiers didn’t run and hide. Soldiers weren’t cowards. Did running away really mean that he was a coward?

…..

But this wasn’t about him; this was about Gavin. The human’s safety and longevity were at the forefront of Number Nine’s mind, and it was all he could think of as he stared at the knife protruding from the corpse’s neck like a flag.

“F-Fowler…oh God…” Gavin wheezed, fanning himself with both hands, and then clutching at his racing heart as if it would leap out of his chest at any second, “wh-what am I g-g-gonna do?! I have n-nowhere to go!!”

As the android soldier scanned the entire building, looking for an alternative route out, Gavin cried out in a labored, panicked breath, “Th-they’re gonna th-think I killed him!! You monster! You f-fuckin’ framed me!! How could you?!”

They didn’t have the time and luxury on their hands to bicker or be more offended with one another. Bowing his head down as he studied the floorboards, the levels beneath the floorboards, and all movement around the perimeter of the building, Number Nine finally came forth with the truth.

“I came here to take your life,” were the first few words out of his mouth, past his lips, and in the air between his body and Gavin’s. “I’m not from this time.”

Coughing and choking on a laugh, Gavin hissed, “Stop fuckin’ around with me!” Pointing at the corpse, then, he added, “This is your f-fault! Now, you have to take me with you, Nines! You c-c-can’t just l-leave me here on my own! They’re gonna—”

Stunned, the android’s jaw slightly hung open. “Take you with me?” Pressing on, he inquired, “You want to go with me?”

Where would they even go? Either way, they were both prisoners, now. Unwanted at home, and unwanted in a world and time he didn’t understand at all, Number Nine was left with something that had been born from nothingness. This wasn’t supposed to happen, and he’d never anticipated for it to happen. This hadn’t even been something the other clones had done. As far as he knew, they obeyed their orders and commands vigilantly and firmly, never once questioning the order and nature of things.

…And yet, they’d _still_ been disposed of. This was a fact, and given what he’d accomplished today, he had no chance of surviving.

Panting picking up again, Gavin paced back and forth as he trained his slightly pink, tearful eyes down at the floor. “I’m goin’ w-with you,” he formulated his thoughts out loud, “even though th-this is the c-c-craziest shit I’ve e-ever heard of in m-my entire life, fuck it! I trust you! Okay? S-so you’re gonna take me back to your home, or your t-time, whenever or wh-wherever it may be, and th-then we’ll figure s-something out!”

Wishful thinking, or pleasant dreaming? Which version were they going to opt for?

First and foremost, due to his innocent, and near non-deceptive nature, Number Nine stated blandly, “You can’t come with me.”

Gavin’s reaction to hearing such a proclamation was sublime in the truest form. Yelling as though he’d been swearing an oath or an allegiance to his country, he screamed from the top of his lungs, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! YOU C-CAN’T DO TH-THIS TO ME, NINES!! YOU CAN’T!!”

The urge to yell back lingered in the pit of his stomach for a split second, but Number Nine decided against it. He’d already put this person through enough, and as damaged and broken as Gavin Reed was, he didn’t deserve more pain.

Gazing towards the dark windows, he only offered sincerely, “I can’t go home, either.” Choosing to walk up to the window, he carefully parted the blinds, and he stared out into the bleak, filthy world outside. As open and as colorful Detroit City was, in the night, it was another beast entirely. Plenty of lights from the streetlamps and apartment buildings near Gavin’s were brightly lit, and Number Nine wondered why this city and its people never slept.

A hand slammed down and grazed past his left cheek. Palm connected with the stained glass, almost too abrasively for comfort. Number Nine peered at the window, and as stained and mucky as it was, he could still make out Gavin Reed’s crude, angry face hovering by his left shoulder.

Aggressively, their eyes met in the window, though neither of them backed down. It wasn’t in their nature to back down. Ever.

“Nines,” Gavin’s warm puff of breath slammed into his neck, and Number Nine only glared on. “What. Does. That. Shit. Mean.”

Addressing the question that sounded much more like a declarative statement, Number Nine replied coolly, “I’ve failed…twice.”

A dark brown eyebrow rose, “Twice?”

Though this was breaking every last protocol, order, command, and oath he’d taken, Number Nine carefully turned himself around and faced Gavin. The shorter male craned his head down, and it seemed as though he was taken aback by the sheer difference in height. In comparison to the living, breathing human being, Number Nine knew he was practically gigantic. Though he never wanted to frighten the trembling male before himself, when he stretched out a hand almost without thinking, Gavin let out a tiny cry, and then leapt away from him.

Chin quivering, Gavin rasped brokenly, “No, y-you tell me what you m-meant by twice, Nines, and you better not fuckin’ lie to me!!”

Hearing how his vocal cords gave out and caused his voice to crack stirred something up in the bottom of Number Nine’s chest. What was he feeling?! How could it be so naturally associated with Gavin Reed? All the feelings tormented him, almost pushing and chasing him to the ledge as he reached back with an elbow and pushed open Gavin’s window. Fresh air billowed into the apartment, and as cold as it was, it only made Gavin sigh out in fear while he waited for the response he was owed.

“I…failed once before,” he found himself already explaining, “I had a mission to complete, I failed it.”

He saw the question in Gavin’s eyes.

“How?”

Everything was as raw as freshly butchered meat. They’d crossed another line, and the obedient soldier wanted to cross many more. How many more would they be able to cross, anyway?

Focusing on Gavin’s eyes, Number Nine answered gently, “I hesitated.”

Hesitation was _always_ defeat. It never meant anything else.

Hands wringing together nervously, Gavin swallowed, “This…you…” Closing his eyes in frustration, he pushed out carefully, “You do this a lot, right?”

“Affirmative; I’m a soldier. It is my duty.”

Nodding, Gavin said, “Okay, I mean, I g-get that, but…you hesitated…what does that mean?”

Tilting his head, Number Nine answered without pause, “I did not eliminate my target on time.”

Pointing at himself, then, Gavin’s eyes lit up as he pieced it all together. “Just like me?”

This, he really found he couldn’t answer, and he didn’t. Turning back to the window, Number Nine eyed lower rooftops strewn about directly in front of Gavin’s balcony. The shorter, smaller buildings were practically a path created for their imminent escape. It was the perfect opportunity, and they had to seize it, before more messengers and retrievers hounded them.

A hand gently landed on his shoulder, and then the softest of cries hit his audio receptors. “Are you going to kill me, too?”

Never having been asked this before, Number Nine was truly lost, and stuck. It was as if Gavin had wedged him between a rock and a wall, and with no other options and no other place to go to, Number Nine tried backing away.

Gavin mistook this for aggression, and he advanced aggressively. “You’re going to kill me too, aren’t you?!” he barked out, “did you kill the other one?! Did you?!”

When his eyes darted to the left, the shorter male roared, “ANSWER ME!!! DID YOU?!”

Of course he had. That was the only way he knew how to carry through his orders. Was there something else he needed to be doing? Had he missed something?

The perceptive creature peered down at the human male trying to press himself up against him, then, and Number Nine only whispered, “I can’t leave this time and this world unless you’re deceased.”

Laughing in spite of the fact that there wasn’t any humor in his words, Gavin pointed, and then jabbed his index finger into the android’s sternum. “So this is what it boils down to, huh? Ending my life?” Humming, he cried, “I’m a fuckin’ pawn, huh?”

Number Nine was confused. “I thought you wanted death.”

“I do!” Gavin retorted far too wildly, and his eyes turned pink again as he placed both his hands on his hips and forced himself from shaking. “I do,” turning his eyes down at the floor, he muttered, “but not like this…not like…not like…” Turning and whimpering when he saw his deceased neighbor’s corpse, he finally concluded, “Not like the others. Please…”

So there _was_ a reason to live, after all. This was a sudden, drastic change from the mood and ambiance that had defined the detective since Number Nine had first started stalking his prey. He’d underestimated Gavin Reed tremendously. The man didn’t want to die like before. Instead, he was fighting and resisting, and quite passionately so. He was willing to help himself, and in turn, Number Nine felt he had a reason to fight for someone.

For once.

Making his mind up right then and there, he discarded and abandoned his mission, his goal, his orders, and his promises. He wasn’t going to kill Gavin Reed at all. No, he was going to protect him with everything he had, and he was prepared to end his own existence for the human.

They couldn’t stay here, and Number Nine was going to charter the way for the best and quickest exit. Now, they had to slip by undetected, but thankfully, nighttime was the safest way to do so. Messengers and retrievers were inhibited by the dark and by night, which was chiefly why they never operated in his world. Then again, they never had a reason to…until recently…

Nodding more so to himself, Number Nine decided, “Over the roof, through the city. We have to leave, now.”

“Okay,” Gavin cried, and as he took one more step towards the tall android, he repeated, “okay, just please don’t leave me alone anymore.”

If he’d been intending to inquire as to the meaning of those odd words, Number Nine soon found himself incapable of that. Frozen to the spot, he was only rooted and held down because in the short amount of time it’d taken to fire up a map of the city in his mind, Gavin Reed had surprised him yet again with a rather bold, bold move.

Without even thinking of what he was doing, the human wrapped his arms around Number Nine’s waist, and he pressed their bodies together.

What…what was he doing, now?

Staring down at him, Number Nine kept his arms down at his sides. The human was so close, that he was able to see how brightly each and every one of his clean hair strands glistened and gleamed beneath the light the moon and stars provided outside. Number Nine was able to see the roots of Gavin’s hair, and it appeared that a few white strands were starting to take root in the man’s scalp.

White…Number Nine associated the color with everything, and nothing. It neither defined nor separated anything, as colors never before had meant a thing to him. They were just _there_. And now, Gavin was here with him.

There was no longer a gap between their bodies, and while Number Nine glanced down at Gavin, the human being took a moment to peek up at him. Again, their eyes met in that old, familiar pull, and it started spreading through them both. Pooling and coiling from the center of their bodies right down to their toes, it brought along with itself electric sparks that riveted and shocked them both.

And yet they hadn’t moved away…

If there was a promise Gavin Reed was expecting from Number Nine, it had been forgotten, at least for the time being. As they both stood before the moon while it poured generously in through the windows, their shadows were scant and spread down over the floor, molding and meshing together so it appeared as one black mass.

Once again, Number Nine felt his eyes drawn to the center of Gavin’s pink lips. They were parting, and when Gavin’s tongue wet them, Number Nine felt more curious about the little move. While there was still far too much about humans he didn’t understand, what he was able to fully understand and feel was that Gavin’s arms had grown impossible tighter around him.

He could even see and feel Gavin’s kiss before it’d happened, but he hadn’t broken away from the human.

Much like before, their lips met. This time, however, it’d been Gavin who’d initiated contact. Boldly, he pressed his lips over the stoic, cold android’s, and he leaned himself into it. Their lips didn’t move at first, and then suddenly, while Gavin closed his eyes as he delivered more soft pecks to the soldier’s firm line of lips, Number Nine held his hands loosely down at his sides.

Never making a move to even touch Gavin, Number Nine kept his eyes open, staring down at the human male delivering more soft touches to his lips. He was breathing through his nose, now, and a soft, satiated sigh flew up into the air before their lips as Gavin eventually broke away from the kiss.

As he leaned his head on the android’s shoulder, Number Nine merely looked straight ahead, eyes cold, bland, and vacant. Though his eyes were as unforgiving as the world he came from, he knew that internally, he was already changing, and at a rapid pace. Almost at a molecular level, everything he’d come to learn and observe was being torn down and replaced by something else…

Though he knew not what that thing was specifically, he at least hoped he would be able to discover it along the way with Gavin Reed. Together, they had to embark on a strange journey without rules, without specific, set orders, and for the first time, Number Nine wanted to partake in such a journey so openly.

Number Nine only relied on his orders and commands, before, but now, he found he was relying a lot on Gavin Reed.

**_To Be Continued_ **


End file.
